Stories about Natural Disasters on WikiTribune – WikiTribunehttps://www.wikitribune.com
Come collaborate with us, because facts really do matterFri, 22 Feb 2019 11:57:40 +0000en-GBhourly1Tracking Hurricane Florencehttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/87740/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=category%20four&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=category%20four&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=category%20four
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/87740/?talkTue, 11 Sep 2018 09:58:23 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?p=87740Florence, a Category Four storm, is bearing down on the U.S. east coast with sustained wind speeds of 220kph (140mph). It’s expected to make landfall on September 13 near Wilmington, North Carolina. Add updates, information or new sections to this story. Category Four is the second-highest hurricane category. President Donald Trump said it would be […]]]>

My people just informed me that this is one of the worst storms to hit the East Coast in many years. Also, looking like a direct hit on North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Please be prepared, be careful and be SAFE!

The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned residents of the Carolinas and Virginia that a “life threatening storm surge is likely along portions of the coastlines”.

Mandatory evacuations affecting up to one million people have been ordered in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Trump gave the green light for emergency declarations in the Carolinas. He said he spoke with the governors of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. “Federal Government stands by, ready to assist 24/7.”

Timeline:

Where did Florence start?

What’s its projected path?

Are you affected? How are you preparing?

How are civil society and relief organizations preparing?

Projected costs?

How does Florence compare to previous hurricanes?

International reaction?

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/87740/feed/1Puerto Rico 2017 hurricane death toll raised to nearly 3,000 from 64https://www.wikitribune.com/article/85711/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=Caribbean&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=Caribbean&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=Caribbean
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/85711/?talkWed, 29 Aug 2018 10:42:23 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?p=85711Puerto Rican authorities believe nearly 3,000 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria, having accepted a new estimate that is 46 times higher than the previous official death toll. Puerto Rico’s Governor Ricardo Rosello accepted the findings of a research team at George Washington University, published August 28, which estimated the excess mortality during […]]]>

Puerto Rican authorities believe nearly 3,000 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria, having accepted a new estimate that is 46 times higher than the previous official death toll.

Puerto Rico’s Governor Ricardo Rosello accepted the findings of a research team at George Washington University, published August 28, which estimated the excess mortality during a six month period between September 2017 when Hurricane Maria struck and February 2018 at 2,975. Their model was trained on seven year’s of monthly mortality and census data and the 95 percent confidence level was given at 2,658-3,290.

The previous official estimate of people killed by the hurricane, which lasted from mid-September to early October 2017, was 64. The research confirmed widespread speculation that the death toll had been underestimated, partly due to gaps in death certification.

The worst Atlantic hurricane since 2004 came when the U.S. territory was struggling with a debt crisis that had seen it file for a form of bankruptcy months earlier, and which had over several years undermined investment in infrastructure.

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/85711/feed/0After the wildfires: How Californians are struggling to recoverhttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/85467/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=California&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=California&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=California
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/85467/?talkMon, 27 Aug 2018 19:59:20 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?p=85467Bobbi Bentum wasn’t frantic when an officer from the sheriff’s department came to evacuate her rural community near the town of Upperlake, California. Her family has seen dozens of wildfires, and experienced at least three other evacuation orders since moving to Elk Mountain Road more than 20 years ago. So, like many Californians, Bentum left […]]]>

Bobbi Bentum wasn’t frantic when an officer from the sheriff’s department came to evacuate her rural community near the town of Upperlake, California. Her family has seen dozens of wildfires, and experienced at least three other evacuation orders since moving to Elk Mountain Road more than 20 years ago. So, like many Californians, Bentum left with her daughter and husband assuming they’d return home after the fire was extinguished, just as they had in the past.

“You always know it could happen, but you never expect it,” Bentum told WikiTribune. “Two weeks ago this was the last thing on my mind, that I’d be homeless.”

What started as a small brush fire on the opposite side of Elk Mountain spread to Bentum’s side of the mountain on the afternoon of July 31. Despite efforts to clear every piece of flammable material, her home, her brother’s home and her parents’ home were consumed by what ultimately became the Mendocino Complex Fire, the largest wildfire in California history.

It’s unlikely the Bentum family will return to Elk Mountain anytime soon. Unlike most homeowners, they don’t carry home insurance, meaning they’d need to personally finance rebuilding their home, which would likely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Prior to this summer’s fires, every major insurer operating in the area had classified the Bentum’s densely wooded valley property as “high-risk.” This narrowed her insurance options to “last-resort” policies that cost close to $10,000 a year, according to Bentum’s brother, Jayd Michaelson. Because they couldn’t afford the cost, neither the Bentums nor Michaelsons carried insurance on their homes.

In lieu of an insurance payout, friends of the family have set up GoFundMe campaigns to help the two families find reprieve.

Less than half may rebuild after a fire

The future of many rural communities in California is beginning to look bleak, as devastating wildfires destroy homes every year. Like the Bentums and Michaelsons, many homeowners in these remote areas have limited access to affordable insurance, leaving them little incentive to rebuild after the destruction of wildfires turns over their lives.

Even as the Mendocino Complex Fire continues to burn, Lake County, where the Bentum and Michaelson families reside, is still reeling from previous wildfires. Recovery from the Valley Fire, which destroyed 1,281 homes in 2015, has been long, painful and costly.

Of the 1,281 Lake County homeowners directly affected by the fire, only 40 percent rebuilt after the Valley Fire, according to Carol Huchingson, an administrative officer with the county government. Much of the construction effort has come from volunteer organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity (Press Democrat).

‘I’m less concerned about my premiums going up, as much as my insurance being dropped altogether’ – emergency room nurse who lost home in Tubbs Fire

Even though most victims had home insurance, many did not have enough. Industry experts estimate two-thirds of homeowners are underinsured, meaning they don’t have enough coverage to fund a rebuild of their home. That grim statistic gets increased media attention after nearly every wildfire.

Debate around insuring homes in high-risk zones

Policy makers disagree on how to provide insurance in high-risk communities, which report premium increases nearly every year (Press-Telegram). California’s insurance commissioner Dave Jones has advocated for legislation that would help homeowners in high-risk areas get access to more affordable coverage. In a 2017 report, his office found a 250 percent increase in insurance costs between 2015 and 2016 for those in high-risk zip codes.

The commissioner’s report was criticized by environmentalists and actuaries for encouraging people to live in “wildlife-urban interfaces,” a term that describes property adjacent to forested areas at increased risk of fire due to drought conditions (Bloomberg).

Alice Hill, a fellow with the Hoover Institute, argues that policy makers need to realize that fires are becoming more costly because more large homes are being built near dry woodlands. In an interview with Bloomberg in January 2018, Hill said insurers don’t pull out of markets without reason.

“If those risks are getting too high, it’s a strong signal that we need to change our ways,” she said.

‘There’s no doubt that climate change is playing a truly significant role in what we’re facing in California’ – Marin County battalion chief

Dramatically higher insurance costs would upset a large number of constituents. Roughly 3.6 million Californians live in fire-prone wildlife-urban interface areas. If they were to lose access to insurance, they’d have only the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan to fall back on. FAIR is a privately managed high-risk pool that refers to itself as “last resort” coverage.

But even the 128,708 homeowners enrolled in FAIR are hardly receiving cheap coverage. Jayd Michaelson, who lost his home in the Mendocino Complex Fire, said FAIR plans cost as much as $10,000 a year. FAIR vice president Tammy Schwartz characterizes the plan as a placeholder while homeowners shop for another insurance provider.

“You can get better and cheaper coverage outside of FAIR,” she said.

Carole Walker, spokesperson for the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, says paying more for risky property is unavoidable, even if the government were to take the ill-advised step of entering the insurance game. But she sympathizes with Californians who are desperate for reprieve. Compared with Colorado, the state she specializes in, California homeowners and insurers are spread dangerously thin.

“California has unfortunately seen the worst-case scenario play out with a wildfire in a high-density population,” said Walker, referring to last year’s fire in the Santa Rosa area.

Climate change a significant concern

Widespread anxiety over fire insurance was largely considered a rural issue until the Tubbs Fire jumped over four lanes of highway into densely populated neighborhoods of Santa Rosa, California, in 2017. That fire burned through over 5,000 properties. As a result, many suburban homeowners are worried they’ll slip into the dreaded FAIR program, previously regarded as the domain of those living in more remote areas.

Todd Axberg, an emergency room nurse who lost his home in the Tubbs Fire, has no issue with his insurance policy. It helped him receive a payout large enough to fund most of his rebuilding efforts. But considering Santa Rosa has experienced three major wildfires over the past 50 years, he fears a fourth inferno may be inevitable.

“I’m less concerned about my premiums going up, as much as my insurance being dropped altogether,” Axberg told WikiTribune.

Bret McTigue, a battalion chief with the Marin County Fire Department just north of San Francisco, says everyone should be anticipating the next big wildfire. Like many fire officials nowadays, McTigue cites climate change as the primary reason fires have gotten worse, a reality that hit home after the 2017 Tubbs Fire.

“Ten years ago, you would spend your career and maybe see one major fire like this,” he said. “Now, we’re getting one or two career fires per year … there’s no doubt that climate change is playing a truly significant role in what we’re facing in California.”

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/85467/feed/3Dogs help find ashes of loved ones after California wildfireshttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/84547/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=Natural%20Disasters&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=Natural%20Disasters&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=Natural%20Disasters
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/84547/?talkSun, 19 Aug 2018 06:57:20 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?p=84547Lynne Engelbert and her border collie, Piper, no longer work in search and rescue. The physical demands of locating people in peril make it a profession for younger people, she says. So she and Piper have pivoted toward something less physically grueling: finding human remains after the California wildfires that have ravaged the state. With […]]]>

Lynne Engelbert and her border collie, Piper, no longer work in search and rescue. The physical demands of locating people in peril make it a profession for younger people, she says. So she and Piper have pivoted toward something less physically grueling: finding human remains after the California wildfires that have ravaged the state.

With noses 50 times stronger than a human’s, dogs can track the distinct smell of a decaying body just as easily as they can sense the sweaty odor of someone still alive (PBS).

But Piper isn’t trained to find the recently deceased, nor is any dog at the Institute of Canine Forensics (ICF) located in Northern California, where Engelbert is an associate. Rather, the dogs at ICF specialize in locating the remains of people who died long ago, even centuries back. Their expertise is known as “Historic Human Remains Detection” (HHRD). ICF mostly helps archaeologists identify American Indian burial grounds, which are scattered throughout California.

“We never lose our human scent … our dogs are able to alert us on cremation burials that were done thousands of years ago,” says Engelbert.

But for the past year, Engelbert has returned to her disaster-relief origins by helping victims of California wildfires. Piper and Engelbert don’t search for bodies charred from the flames – that’s the job of “cadaver dogs,” a law enforcement service they’re often mistakenly lumped in with.

Instead, ICF teams help fire victims by locating the ashes of loved ones who were cremated long before a wildfire came through.

With several thousand California homes burned to the ground in the past year, there’s been no shortage of requests for Piper’s services. Engelbert is currently planning a trip to Redding, California, where over 1,000 homes were destroyed in what has been only the third largest fire in the state in 2018.

Sniffing for ashes

Engelbert began helping wildfire victims after the Tubbs Fire in 2017. That blaze ravaged thousands of residences in Santa Rosa, California, including the home of Judy Morris. In an inferno hot enough to melt her “fireproof” safe, the porcelain urn that held the ashes of her late husband didn’t stand much of a chance.

“I made my peace with the situation, but the things you can never get back, that’s what hurts the most,” Morris told WikiTribune.

A week after fire had destroyed her home, Morris reluctantly agreed to meet with a team of archaeologists, trainers and dogs (which included Engelbert). Her skepticism dissipated when she learned they offered their services for free for wildfire victims.

After a search dog named Bailey sniffed around the jagged pieces of stucco that had once made up the exterior walls of her home, Morris remembers the golden Labrador stopping, spinning around and sitting in front of what appeared to the human eye to be a pile sand. Another dog was called over to the pile for a second opinion.

“I was shocked that my husband’s ashes were found in that mess. It was a miracle in a dark time,” says Morris, 10 months after the Tubbs fire.

Fuzzy science behind HHRD

Unlike typical cadaver dogs that sniff for the distinct smell of decomposing tissue, or the sweaty odor of someone still alive, HHRD dogs rely on the faint scent of bone to find human remains.

Scientific debate revolves around which chemicals the dogs are detecting. Once dogs identify where ashes could be located, the human eye can often discern the white and pink dust that typically signifies cremated bone and flesh.

Engelbert says her team has developed a sound procedure for finding cremated remains after a natural disaster. Their post-fire protocol largely follows the same non-invasive method dogs use to identify ancient burial grounds.

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/84547/feed/0Authorities step up rescue efforts in flood-hit Keralahttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/84383/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=Environment&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=Environment&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=Environment
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/84383/?talkFri, 17 Aug 2018 10:39:20 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?p=84383Health authorities in the flood-hit Indian state of Kerala made preparations to combat the spread of diseases and intensify the pace of rescue missions after devastating floods – the worst in a century, according to officials – killed hundreds of people and displaced almost a million more. Add updates, information or new sections to this report. […]]]>

Health authorities in the flood-hit Indian state of Kerala made preparations to combat the spread of diseases and intensify the pace of rescue missions after devastating floods – the worst in a century, according to officials – killed hundreds of people and displaced almost a million more.

Add updates, information or new sections to this report.

Starting August 8, non-stop rains overflowed rivers and triggered landslides in the southwest state of 33 million people, a popular tourist destination straddling the Indian Sea. At least 324 people died and almost a million more are living in thousands of relief camps, according to state officials. Kerala’s chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the floods were the worst the state has seen in over a century.

Light to moderate rains were expected today. Rescue teams hope to take advantage of the more favourable weather to reach tens of thousands of stranded villagers who’d been cut off by rising waters and lethal mudslides.

Are floods in the Indian subcontinent getting more destructive every year?

Rainfall in Kerala this monsoon season was 40 percent higher than normal, according to Reuters. Incessant rains over the past 10 days forced officials to release water from several dams, sending surges into rivers which then overflowed their banks.

What’s Kerala’s geography like?

Other significant floods in the region. Add more here:

Research:

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/84383/feed/1Reporting the Mendocino Complex firehttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/83339/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=California&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=California&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=California
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/83339/?talkThu, 09 Aug 2018 22:12:37 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?p=83339WikiTribune journalist Charles Turner is reporting from the Mendocino Complex Fire. Here’s what we need: Have you, or anyone you know, suffered from a wildfire? EDIT this article, add TALK comments or fill out this survey: https://wikitribune-2.forms.fm/wildfires/forms/5343 What are the various interest groups involved in the aftermath of a major fire? This includes fire departments, government/tax […]]]>

Here’s what we need:

What are the various interest groups involved in the aftermath of a major fire? This includes fire departments, government/tax offices, insurance/bank representatives, developers/contractors, environmental groups, politicians and property owners themselves.

Why were major towns spared from the Mendocino Complex fire?

Does the U.S. have a robust fire safety system, or a subpar one, compared to other countries?

Would more logging, if done responsibly, make wildfires less intense in the future?

People to interview:

Michael Mann: Director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/83339/feed/0Timeline: Wildfires across the globehttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/80733/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=climate&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=climate&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=climate
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/80733/?talkThu, 26 Jul 2018 15:30:03 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?post_type=stories&p=80733The incidence of wildfires across the world appears to have been unusually high in the past 12 months. Wildfires – defined as a sudden, quickly-spreading conflagration – have happened in Greenland, Siberia and Sweden, as well as more common locations such as California and Greece. This timeline lists some of the main wildfires known about […]]]>

The incidence of wildfires across the world appears to have been unusually high in the past 12 months. Wildfires – defined as a sudden, quickly-spreading conflagration – have happened in Greenland, Siberia and Sweden, as well as more common locations such as California and Greece.

This timeline lists some of the main wildfires known about since summer 2017. Add or expand with more facts:

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/80733/feed/0Flooding follows deadly Greek wildfireshttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/80727/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=Alexis%20Tsipras&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=Alexis%20Tsipras&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=Alexis%20Tsipras
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/80727/?talkTue, 24 Jul 2018 12:54:51 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?post_type=stories&p=80727 Severe flooding has deluged north and northeastern Athens, only days after wildfires took the lives of at least 80 people. Heavy thunderstorms brought far more precipitation than normal in the suburbs of the Greek capital, turning roads into rivers. Kostas Lagouvardos of the National Observatory of Athens told WikiTribune: “The municipality of Vrilissia saw 100mm […]]]>

Severe flooding has deluged north and northeastern Athens, only days after wildfires took the lives of at least 80 people. Heavy thunderstorms brought far more precipitation than normal in the suburbs of the Greek capital, turning roads into rivers.

Kostas Lagouvardos of the National Observatory of Athens told WikiTribune: “The municipality of Vrilissia saw 100mm of rain in 90 minutes. The areas of Pendeli, Marousi, Melissia and Kifisia had about 60-65mm in the same timeframe. Athens gets about 400mm of rain annually; this is a big divergence from the average. Thankfully, it didn’t rain on the mountains where the burned forests are. However, we expect heavy rain tomorrow as well.”

In a radio interview, the deputy head of Attica, George Karameros, asked residents to not walk around the area of Marousi and advised they do not drive on two of the main roads.

The mayor of Marousi, George Patoulis, explained the sudden flooding. “Since 2007 we have been asking the regional authorities to provide us funding for rainwater management and anti-flooding infrastructure. With a lot of pressure, we have managed to secure a big part of our municipality. The only place where such works haven’t been performed is where we saw severe flooding today, where the creek is narrow. The water quickly flooded over the creek and into nearby parking.”

Only a month ago 15 people lost their lives during floods in Mandra in West Attica, an area which has been hit with three “biblical” floods in the last three years.

The floods came in the wake of the fatal fires which started last Monday, July 23, and spread rapidly. The first blaze is believed to have broken out in a tiny mountainous area of east Attica called Daou Penteli. It quickly spread – fanned by strong winds – towards the coast, where summer residences, resorts, and camps are full of people at the height of summer.

At least 80 people have died and dozens are reported missing. A total of 47 wildfires were raging between Monday and Tuesday throughout the country.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras returned from an official trip to Bosnia and declared three days of national mourning. “It is a difficult night for Greece,” he told reporters. Cyprus and Spain have come to Greece’s aid by providing air support.

The victims were found in the coastal area between Rafina and Nea Makri. The area is a holiday region just east of the capital of Athens, and many Athenians and tourists alike spend summers there.

“The weather was extremely favourable for the fire to spread; the temperature was over 36°C, winds blew were at 6-7 on the Beaufort scale, at 120km/h in some places, and moisture in the atmosphere was very low,” Lagouvardos said.

The fire in Eastern Attica, video courtesy of the National Observatory of Athens.

Houses and other buildings were quickly engulfed in flames, leaving residents little time to escape. Other people tried to escape by heading to the beach, or went into the water. Emergency crews found the bodies of 26 people in a field overlooking the sea.

“Residents and visitors in the area did not escape in time even though they were a few metres from the sea or in their homes,” a spokesperson for the fire brigade told Reuters.

Eleana Balabani, a local described the scene.“We rushed to the beach, but even that wasn’t safe. The fire spread almost to the shoreline. We had to stay in the water for six or seven hours.”

A total of 700 people were found by the coastguard and local fishermen on the beaches. Another 19 were found at sea, in addition to four dead bodies, reported Reuters.

Nina Leopoulou, who was returning from her holidays, told WikiTribune that she was on a ferry to Rafina that spotted members of a group of 10 Danish tourists who were rescued from the sea.

The Danes reportedly(in.gr) saw fire approaching a beach they were on, and decided to escape on a boat. They were found in the sea by the passing ferry at around 10pm on Monday.

“Some of them were really young children. I wonder how their parents protected them in the sea, at night, for so long. From the moment we spotted them, it was at least an hour before we found the rest of them,” said Leopoulou.

Smoke from the fires reached the Greek capital. Maria Nyktari, a resident of north eastern Athens, said: “I woke up in the middle of the night coughing. At first, I thought it was the air-conditioning. It was when I woke up at around 8am, and looked out of the window to see a dark cloud, that I realised what was happening.”

Scenes near the beach at Mati on the evening of July 24. Video by Eleana Balabani. Credit: WikiTribune. License: CC 0

Meanwhile, in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city, about 500km north of Athens, the fire brigade had to cope with severe hail and rain.

The response

A senior cleric declared that the fire was a result of having an “atheist Prime Minister.” The government has pledged €20 million in relief efforts.

Politicians and citizens alike have pointed out the lack of state preparation for such disasters, and the dangers brought by unregulated urban development. An online petition demanding that the Greek Parliament doesn’t allow fresh construction on the burned land swiftly registered almost 75,000 signatures.

Cyprus, Spain, Italy, Croatia and Portugal offered help in the form of firefighting planes and fire brigades. The Prime Minister of North Macedonia (who recently agreed an end to a long-running dispute with Greece over his country’s former designation as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) pledged another $6 million to help its southern neighbour.

According to data from the EU’s Joint Research Centre, between 2006 and 2015 an average 1,209 wildfires broke out in Greece each year. But 2018 has been the deadliest year since 2007, when 84 people died and 2,700km² of forest were destroyed across the country.

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/80727/feed/0Lack of Commitment Hinders International Efforts to Curb Child Laborhttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/78363/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=Afghanistan&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=Afghanistan&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=Afghanistan
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/78363/?talkWed, 18 Jul 2018 09:49:34 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?post_type=stories&p=78363Rather than going to school, Ali, age 12, works in a shoe manufacturing workshop. For up to 10 hours a day, six days a week, he works in the Syrian capital of Damascus for no more than $1 per shift (Global Citizen). Ali is one of 152 million children around the world engaged in labor […]]]>

Rather than going to school, Ali, age 12, works in a shoe manufacturing workshop. For up to 10 hours a day, six days a week, he works in the Syrian capital of Damascus for no more than $1 per shift (Global Citizen). Ali is one of 152 million children around the world engaged in labor (International Labour Organization).

Child labor worldwide has decreased since 2012, but the pace of decline has slowed. If the 2012-2016 rate of decline continues, 121 million children will still be involved in labor by 2025. That doesn’t come close to meeting the goal of ending child labor by 2025 set by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

In 2015, more than 150 world leaders adopted the Sustainable Development Goals initiative (UN), which included eradicating forced labor, modern slavery, human trafficking and child labor within 10 years.

But IUF‘s Svetlana Boincean told WikiTribune she doesn’t think the goal will be achieved because politicians “declare, but they are not committed.”

In order for the number of child laborers to reach zero by 2025, the rate of decline would have to roughly be twice as fast as it was in the period from 2008-2016.

Natural disasters often force families to send their children to work to help meet basic family needs, rather than attending school. Studies in Cambodia and Tanzania found child labor was substantially higher in villages experiencing agriculture shortages from drought, flooding and crop failure (ILO). A Global Protection Centre report found the number of adolescents taking up work after the Sahel food crisis nearly doubled in Niger.

FAO child labor expert Ariane Genthon told WikiTribune that conflicts displace large populations, force children out of school and leave families unable to meet basic needs. When this happens, she said, “children are the first buffer.”

The incidence of child labor in countries affected by armed conflict is 77 percent higher than the global average (ILO). For example, the Syrian civil war, ongoing since 2011, has had profound effects on children who have been used in the war by armed groups on all sides, according to a 2015 report from Save the Children and UNICEF. In Jordan, 47 percent of refugee households rely partly or entirely on income generated by a child (Save the Children and UNICEF).

In Afghanistan, decades of conflict have exacerbated poverty, leading to an increase in child labor (Human Rights Watch). This is despite the country’s ratification of two international treaties related to child labor (Human Rights Watch), that currently cover 80 percent of the world’s children (ILO). The U.S. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor found Afghanistan failed to implement its labor laws by not inspecting worksites and not penalizing violators.

“Only four to five percent of the world’s agricultural workers have access to any form of labor inspection or health and safety inspection,” Boincean told WikiTribune.

Possible solutions to child labor problem

Save the Children spokesperson Bhanu Bhatnagar told WikiTribune that solving child labor involves supporting families, given the fact that two-thirds of child laborers work in family operations (FAO). He also said it will require addressing the fact that 130 million girls don’t go to school (Theirworld).

Genthon emphasized the need to raise awareness about the negative impacts of child labor, saying the practice is “sometimes mistaken for tradition.” In some places, parents worry that if children don’t work in farming from an early age, they won’t do it when they are older.

“We try to show that by educating the children, they can learn better ways to farm which will improve communities lives,” she said.

When Boincean visited Kyrgyzstan, she often hears a version of the same refrain: “When I was young my grandparents worked, my parents worked, and I worked.” However, she said the country has made progress in child labor. She said micro- credit loans to Kyrgyzstani farmers have enabled them to hire outside labor during harvest season, allowing their children to remain in school.

IUF work has included efforts to eliminate child labor in Kyrgyzstan’s tobacco industry, Uzbekistan’s cotton industry and Latin America’s banana plantations. Boincean said her work is easier when adults are part of unions, since adult underemployment, a contributor to child labor, is linked with employment rights. An ILO study in Rwanda found that child labor among farm households belonging to cooperatives is about one-third lower than in households that do not belong to a co-op.

Boincean said most people covered by social protection schemes live in cities. “In rural areas, (it’s) a very small percentage,” she said.

Even in wealthier countries, Boincean tells us many rural villages are not covered because they are classified as agency, migrant workers, or “whatever name of workers the government and employers invent just to … find a way to exclude them from the labor laws which exist in these countries.”

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/78363/feed/1Climate refugees have no legal rights – and 200 million expected by 2050https://www.wikitribune.com/article/74111/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=Australia&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=Australia&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=Australia
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/74111/?talkTue, 12 Jun 2018 10:58:00 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?post_type=stories&p=74111Global warming will create 200 million climate refugees by 2050, by the most widely cited estimate (IOM). However, climate refugees currently have no legal rights (International Bar Association; UNU) and are “unlikely” to in the near future, Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) director Steve Trent told WikiTribune. The global sea level is projected to rise between 0.3 […]]]>

Global warming will create 200 million climate refugees by 2050, by the most widely cited estimate (IOM). However, climate refugees currently have no legal rights (International Bar Association; UNU) and are “unlikely” to in the near future, Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) director Steve Trent told WikiTribune.

The global sea level is projected to rise between 0.3 to 2.5 meters during the 21st century (NOAA), with scientists increasingly thinking they will rise one meter by 2100. It’s a consequence of climate change, which is predicted to create refugees by amplifying the frequency and intensity of natural disasters – such as droughts, floods, and tropical cyclones.

Ironically, those living in countries which produce the least greenhouse gas emissions are likely to be the most affected by its impacts.

The world’s least developed countries have experienced 99 percent of the deaths from climate and weather related disasters, but account for just 1 percent of global emissions (Global Humanitarian Forum). Despite this, climate change and environmental degradation is not mentioned in any of the key legal conventions that provide protections for refugees and asylum seekers (International Bar Association).

Trent said “only a fool or a fraud would say that climate change was responsible for the Syrian war [but] … in the region of one million people were already on the move before a single bullet was fired in Syria,” with drought playing its part. Exacerbated by climate change, extreme weather events have already forced roughly 27 million people each year since 2008 to leave their homes, according to the EJF – the equivalent of 41 people every minute. Scientists predict it’s going to get worse, with the number of climate refugees forecast from 25 million to 1 billion (UN) by 2050.

‘Kiribati will be the first country in the world to go completely underwater’ – Ricky Kej

One studypredicts climate change will cause the number of asylum-seekers applying for EU entry to triple by the year 2100, to one million a year. Considering the 2015 European migrant crisis “almost brought down the most powerful politician on the continent in Angela Merkel,” as Trent says, it seems highly possible Europe will struggle to be welcoming in the future when the developing world is disproportionately affected by climate change.

Also, developing regions already bear the brunt of the situation, hosting 86 per cent of the world’s refugees in 2015 (UNHCR). “We can try and put up barriers [but] … if we do that as climate refugees are forced to move, you will see a humanitarian crisis of biblical proportions,” Trent said.

Who should take climate refugees?

A national from the archipelago nation of Kiribati, whose islands are mostly two meters above sea level, lost his appeal for asylum in New Zealand, in a 2015 case that would have made him the world’s first climate refugee. The court rejected Ioane Teitiota’s argument that if deported he would face “passive persecution,” as the Kiribati government would be unable to protect him from climate change’s effects (The Independent).

The court said that if Teitiota’s arguments were accepted it would “stand the [1951 UN refugee] convention on its head” and millions facing the threat of natural disasters would be entitled to protection. Sydney University professor of human geography, John Connell, told WikiTribune this verdict set a precedent.

Kiribati’s former president, Anote Tong, purchased roughly 5,500 acres of Fiji in 2014 in case his country’s 114,000 people had nowhere to migrate. Tong predicted his country will likely become uninhabitable in 30-60 years because of flooding and contamination of its fresh water supplies.

Musician Ricky Kej, who interviewed the president during his 2016 visit, told WikiTribune: “Kiribati will be the first country in the world to go completely underwater due to climate change … [yet] it is a country that lives within nature – no major industrialization, barely any carbon emissions – so climate change is not of their making.”

The issue of safe drinking water is even more immediate than the threat of island nations being swamped, as this World Bank feature indicates.

Overall, the biggest changes to the Pacific Islands have come from cyclones magnified by climate change and “king tides” (especially high tides), rather than sea level itself, according to Connell. The nearest countries of substantial land mass to the Pacific Islanders are New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. Connell said that Indonesia and Papua New Guinea will not accept climate refugees from the archipelagos in this part of the world but that New Zealand will recognize the need to do so “much sooner” than Australia, in large part because of the vulnerability of its dependent territory of Tokelau.

The roughly 175,000 people living on the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, will “quite likely” be able to migrate to the United States, Connell said, under an international agreement they have with the U.S., which in return allows it to conduct military operations there.

A fifth of the Marshallese population left between 1999 and 2011 (Marshall Islands Gov) under theCompact of Free Association agreement, which allows them to live and work in the United States without a visa. This is due to expire in 2023 (The Guardian), but given that the agreement allows the United States use of its Kwajalein Atoll missile test range base until 2066 with an option until 2086 (U.S. Government), it seems likely it will be extended.

However, for most of the Pacific Islands, “their countries are going to be gone,” Hawaii’s Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands Sam Lemmo said. “The only way we could theoretically keep global warming to two degrees centigrade is if we basically stopped burning oil now. That’s impossible.” Lemmo told WikiTribune Hawaii is trying to reduce the impact of sea level rise on the next generation but “we’re not going to stop it.”

‘Their countries are going to be gone’ – Sam Lemmo

Dr Charles Fletcher, who was the chief scientist for Hawaii’s recent Sea Level Rise report, which Lemmo oversaw, told WikiTribune geo-engineering could be used to remove CO2, but “the promise of some technological solution is extremely weak.” It “has enormous risk of changing rainfall patterns, changing wind patterns, changing ocean circulation, and of course that could affect food growth, and drought.” He said “we are in a crisis” and that humanity needs to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions within the next 30 years.

University College London research associate Bayes Ahmed concluded that, based on current countries’ living standards and ecological footprint per person, Australia and the U.S. should each take 10 percent of global climate refugees, followed by Canada and Saudi Arabia with 9 percent each, South Korea at 7 percent and finally Russia, Germany and Japan 6 percent each.

Ahmed told WikiTribune that his soon-to-be published findings show that in Bangladesh, which is projected to be one of the worst affected areas, climate migrants already make up 30 percent of the population of its capital, Dhaka, one of the most densely populated cities in the world. He has visited and seen people forced to leave their villages as paddy fields become flooded with sea water, and too saline to grow food. By 2050 up to 25 million people will be affected by rising sea levels in Bangladesh alone (UNEP).

As part of the 2016 Paris Agreement, countries agreed to give $100 billion (€85bn) each year from 2020 to 2025 to help vulnerable nations adapt to climate change. However, Bayes described President Donald J. Trump announcing the United States would pull out of the Paris Agreement as “a real threat” to reaching this target. He also said he was not hopeful global sea level rise will be tackled before it creates millions of homeless and stateless people by the middle of this century.